Pattaya Traffic Violation

[ftpjtm]

I was recently driving my Thai wife's car on my own, and drove through a red light at the Sukhumvit/Thepprasit intersection. The traffic in front of me slowed to a stop, stranding me in the middle of the intersection. Gridlock was bad enough that a Police officer slowly walked to my car and asked me in fairly good English to back up and produce my Drivers License, which I did. This was the first encounter I have had with Thai Police without my wife in the car, and I was clearly guilty of running a red light.

 

The officer returned with a ticket. I asked if I could "pay it now" hoping the offer of some cash would make the problem go away, but he just waved me off and told me to go to the station to pay the fine tomorrow.

 

I was pretty nervous, having heard so many stories of farangs being mistreated by the BIB. I went to the station the next day and they asked for my Passport, which I did not have. I was told to return with it. Now I was even more nervous, the last thing I wanted was for them to have possession of my Passport. But I brought it back the next day, and was surprised by the efficiency of what ensued. I took a number in a large, clean, modern, comfortable room along with a bunch of other predominantly farang traffic scoff laws. I was called to a window in less than 5 minutes, produced my ticket and Passport, and information was entered in a computer terminal. I was given a slip of paper stating that I owed a 400 THB fine, and sent to another window. There I paid the fine, and my license was quickly located and returned. End of story.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the efficiency and reasonableness of the way the whole thing was handled. Everyone in the station was very polite and professional, with the exception of a few of the farang kee nook who were ranting and raging over ridiculously inexpensive fines.

 

After all I have read on this forum and others about heavy handed Police treatment, I was surprised at the fairness of it all. Good job Pattaya Police.

Edited January 9, 2018 by ftpjtm

[HLover]

Sounds perfect, thanks for the report.

[gmac]

Delighted to hear you got caught.  Can't stand it when people jump the red light and get stuck in the intersection blocking it for the green light in the next direction.

[colinneil]

OP you were driving your wifes car alone!!!!

In future your wife will have to be with you, as it appears you are not safe to be allowed out on your own.

 

[ftpjtm]

52 minutes ago, gmac said:

Delighted to hear you got caught.  Can't stand it when people jump the red light and get stuck in the intersection blocking it for the green light in the next direction.

Yes, lesson learned. Definitely will not be running any more red lights unless there is a proper escape route.

[torrzent]

2 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

Yes, lesson learned. Definitely will not be running any more red lights unless there is a proper escape route.

This is a lesson learned?  Sounds more like regression, with the escape plan in place.  Don't break the law period.  There's your lesson for today!

[Pilotman]

41 minutes ago, colinneil said:

OP you were driving your wifes car alone!!!!

In future your wife will have to be with you, as it appears you are not safe to be allowed out on your own.

 

I drive my wife's car all the time, as she can't drive, so in effect it's my car but her name on the paperwork.  Never had a problem at road blocks and I do try to stay within the driving laws.  If you do that, and carry copy passport and your driving licence with you at all times, I don't see that you would ever have a problem. Unless of course you come across a rouge cop, but they are getting slightly rarer these days. 

[Pilotman]

Just now, Pilotman said:

I drive my wife's car all the time, as she can't drive, so in effect it's my car but her name on the paperwork.  Never had a problem at road blocks and I do try to stay within the driving laws.  If you do that, and carry copy passport and your driving licence with you at all times, I don't see that you would ever have a problem. Unless of course you come across a rouge cop, but they are getting slightly rarer these days. 

spelling error there!! 

[colinneil]

2 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I drive my wife's car all the time, as she can't drive, so in effect it's my car but her name on the paperwork.  Never had a problem at road blocks and I do try to stay within the driving laws.  If you do that, and carry copy passport and your driving licence with you at all times, I don't see that you would ever have a problem. Unless of course you come across a rouge cop, but they are getting slightly rarer these days. 

Never met a rouge cop,but many rogue ones. 

[brewsterbudgen]

spelling error there!! 

Actually I suspect they may exist in Pattaya!![emoji182]

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[vogie]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

spelling error there!! 

Not necessarely.

 

Edited January 10, 2018 by vogie

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, torrzent said:

This is a lesson learned?  Sounds more like regression, with the escape plan in place.  Don't break the law period.  There's your lesson for today!

Any time when you are not breaking a traffic law, you are in a very exclusive club of one.

 

If ever a nation's traffic required that at anytime, drivers of all sorts must have a 'Plan B' or even a 'Plan C', it is Thailand.

[cardinalblue]

You should have received 2 tickets.....red light and blocking an intersection.....

 

and then another fine for not carrying a copy of your passport.....

[mrmicbkktxl]

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I drive my wife's car all the time, as she can't drive, so in effect it's my car but her name on the paperwork.  Never had a problem at road blocks and I do try to stay within the driving laws.  If you do that, and carry copy passport and your driving licence with you at all times, I don't see that you would ever have a problem. Unless of course you come across a rouge cop, but they are getting slightly rarer these days. 

That’s the problem,you are keeping the rules.I drive 18years in Thailand and have no problem the way thais driving their vehicles,I’m prepared for anything,if a foreigner is driving in Thailand it makes the streets unsafe because unpredictable what a foreigner will do next.Just a thought

[giddyup]

10 minutes ago, mrmicbkktxl said:

That’s the problem,you are keeping the rules.I drive 18years in Thailand and have no problem the way thais driving their vehicles,I’m prepared for anything,if a foreigner is driving in Thailand it makes the streets unsafe because unpredictable what a foreigner will do next.Just a thought

You have no problem with the way Thais drive, so you probably find the death toll acceptable then?

[mrmicbkktxl]

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

You have no problem with the way Thais drive, so you probably find the death toll acceptable then?

Their country,their laws,as long the RTP is to lazy to enforce existing laws,or to corrupt as long they drive the way they want,because they can

[dotpoom]

You said you were expecting worse from what you read here....

  I certainly understand that as a lot on here seem to make it their only purpose in life.... to knock Thailand.

   You know what they say...."where there's a will there's a way".

[mrmicbkktxl]

But there is no will

Edited January 10, 2018 by mrmicbkktxl

[tryasimight]

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

You have no problem with the way Thais drive, so you probably find the death toll acceptable then?

Discount the death toll by 80% due to bike accidents ( the overwhelming majority are single vehicle accidents) then the remaining car drivers, as a whole,  aren't doing too bad. These are the ones most likely to impact us on a day to day basis. 

Say 15 or so a day...... How does that compare to a country of similar size population and personal mobility?  I really don't know the answer and am too lazy to google. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by tryasimight

[joebrown]

1 hour ago, mrmicbkktxl said:

But there is no will

I agree. If there was a will, he'd have been fined 20,000bht. Traffic accidents are so common because such careless and potentially dangerous violations attract meaningless penalties.

[tryasimight]

Looks like the thread has gone completely off track.... as usual. 

I thought it was about how the OP  was treated fairly by the cops and not an invitation for the hang em high brigade to chime in. 

 

 I guess actually having a decent and fair experience doesn't fit their Thai bashing agenda so they go off on a tangent.  Not unexpected.

[scubascuba3]

I regularly see 10 vehicles go through red lights at Klang/2nd Road, about time police started doing their job

[giddyup]

39 minutes ago, tryasimight said:

Discount the death toll by 80% due to bike accidents ( the overwhelming majority are single vehicle accidents) then the remaining car drivers, as a whole,  aren't doing too bad. These are the ones most likely to impact us on a day to day basis. 

Say 15 or so a day...... How does that compare to a country of similar size population and personal mobility?  I really don't know the answer and am too lazy to google. 

Cut it anyway you like, Thailand is still No 1 when it comes to road fatalities, and I see more craziness and sheer ignorance on the road here than I ever did at home. I have to accept it, doesn't mean I have to look at it through rose-coloured glasses either.

[Bangkok Barry]

Sad, isn't it, that it is deemed newsworthy that the police did their job efficiently. Except perhaps, as another posted, the OP should have received fines for two other violations. Good thing the policeman was in a good mood.

[thailand49]

Glad they doing a better job and the process is quick and easy but in your own words Farang only?  Are they still only stopping Farangs?

[thailand49]

1 hour ago, tryasimight said:

Looks like the thread has gone completely off track.... as usual. 

I thought it was about how the OP  was treated fairly by the cops and not an invitation for the hang em high brigade to chime in. 

 

 I guess actually having a decent and fair experience doesn't fit their Thai bashing agenda so they go off on a tangent.  Not unexpected.

You might go back and look at your post #19,  join the party of being off track. If you had actually done the research you would have figure it out that the standard to determine Thailand as being #1 is the standard for all other countries. They didn't just wake up and decide to apply a different standard to Thailand. Sure 80% are on motorbikes but motorbike drivers when the chance arises they move up to cars, vans, buses and larger commercial vehicles and bring along the same dangerous killing habits.

[Enoon]

2 hours ago, tryasimight said:

Discount the death toll by 80% due to bike accidents ( the overwhelming majority are single vehicle accidents) then the remaining car drivers, as a whole,  aren't doing too bad. These are the ones most likely to impact us on a day to day basis. 

Say 15 or so a day...... How does that compare to a country of similar size population and personal mobility?  I really don't know the answer and am too lazy to google. 

 

UK

2016 total 1792 road deaths:

 

MC  319

Cyclist  102

Pedestrian  448

Cars/others 923

 

= 2.53 Car/other deaths per day = Thailand 5.92 times greater.

 

Motorcycle Fatalities Down in UK | RideApart

 

 

[balo]

7 hours ago, dotpoom said:

ou said you were expecting worse from what you read here....

  I certainly understand that as a lot on here seem to make it their only purpose in life.... to knock Thailand.

Yes , the local traffic cops  will most of the time follow the system and fine you and you HAVE to pay at the station , the bribes that was common a few years ago has almost stopped after the junta took over. . Of course there is still corruption in the police force but paying a traffic fine is nothing to worry about. 

 

A year ago I was stopped for not wearing my seat belt in Chiang Mai , the fine was 200 baht and I tried to pay cash but no , the officer directed me to the nearest police station . And I got a receipt. 

 

Edited January 10, 2018 by balo

[MyFriend You]

15 hours ago, gmac said:

Delighted to hear you got caught.  Can't stand it when people jump the red light and get stuck in the intersection blocking it for the green light in the next direction.

but its much more embarrassing to them then irritating to us, has happened to me in a number of countries - back in 2000 the police box controlled the lights on Silom intersection, I went thru there a hundred times with my big blue American left hand drive Chevrolet Pickup, one day I am sure they were waiting just for me, switched the lights s I was coming thru, I got stuck in the middle with thirty cars honking their horns.  Cop came by wanted 200 baht, those days I was Official with a Diplomatic Plates, he frowned and waved me on.

[dpdp]

Never seen a cop at this junction and I never respect any trafic light. Weird.